New Ms Fit Feature: Sarah Combies

So thrilled that Sarah Combies, owner of Charlestown Cycling Club (CCC) took a moment out of her busy schedule to share with us and be as our newest Ms Fit. Sarah not only founded, teaches, and runs CCC she is also a tax accountant. It has been so fun watching Sarah grow her amazing cycling club these past few years ,including growing into her new and bigger location in City Square. More and more I hear friends, locals, and my barre students rave about her classes and that invigorating cardio rush one can get from this type of workout.  Congratulations Sarah for your accomplishments and thank you for helping our community continue to get healthier! If you haven’t tried a class at CCC, go for it, your first class is free.

 

Sarah Combies, Owner, Charlestown Cycling Club

WHAT IS KEEPING YOU BUSY THESE DAYS?

Work, work, work, no play….almost! Currently I balance my responsibilities at the studio with a full-time job as a tax CPA at RSM US LLP. Thankfully everything is in Charlestown and I’m a good multi-tasker. I am really excited for the holiday season, my favorite time of year, and want to focus on having fun and healthy community events at the studio to recognize our loyal clients, promote other local businesses and charities, and overall have a little bit of fun in betweem the craziness that this time of year brings!

WHAT ARE YOU LOVING IN FASHION RIGHT NOW?

Slip-on sneakers anyone? These look great to and from the gym with tights or crops and also look cute and sporty with skinny jeans. Slip-on is key when you’re always on the go and the prints, fabrics, and options are endless so hoping to build up my collection this fall. Also very excited to wear plaid scarfs and cute knit hats with the big fur pompoms as the weather gets colder! They look adorable on everyone!

Charlestown Cycling Club

HOW DID YOU BECOME A SPIN INSTRUCTOR AND WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR OPENING  YOUR OWN  SPIN STUDIO?

I started spinning in college almost 10 years ago. It was the first time I was really exposed to it. I loved the intensity and the high energy of the classes and continued being a student until 2012 when I finally got certified. My best friend at the time was an instructor at another boutique studio in Boston and after going there for a couple of years I realized it was something I thought I could be good at. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to coach others and see the work that your students put into every class. That satisfaction motivated me to open here in Charlestown, a neighborhood I have known since 2006, and bring more health and fitness options to this growing neighborhood. I am an entrepreneur at heart and never thought I’d get to live my passion for fitness everyday, but CCC and the awesome Charlestown community has made that possible!

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE NEW  SPINNING AND NEW TO YOUR STUDIO?

Go. At. Your. Own. Pace.   Spinning has such a stigma for being hard, intense, and advanced, but the best part about it really is that is completely accommodating to ALL fitness levels. Everyone should definitely try it at least once and see if it’s for them.   Whether you shed 100 calories in class or 1,000, we are here not just for the burn but also for the community.

HOW CAN WE KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOU AND FIND YOUR CLASS SCHEDULE:

www.ctowncycle.com

fb: Charlestown Cycling Club

IG: ctowncycle or scombies

twitter: @ctowncycle

New Ms Fit Feature: Melina Olivia DiPaola

Melina DiPaola, founder of Ride North End and E.T.C Juicery

 

WHAT IS KEEPING YOU BUSY THESE DAYS?

 Everything!! Haha! Teaching about a dozen classes a week, and also trying to keep up with my own fitness goals and lifting regime. I am working on my unassisted pull-ups, handstands, and arm balances. In addition to the teaching itself, finding new music, creating new playlists and choreography and keeping things fresh and interesting for classes. The day-to-day operations of the studio- from member relations to social media to scheduling and taking other teachers’ classes is also quite the endeavor! We are working on the final touches to open the e.t.c. juicery and smoothie bar side of the business as well. Developing smoothie recipes, establishing the product line, and working with the vendors is super fun, yet time consuming.

WHAT ARE YOU LOVING IN FITNESS AND FASHION RIGHT NOW?

In fitness, I love, and always have loved, burpees. Crazy, I know. In my iron ride class that I teach (part ride, part exercises off of the bike mixing bodyweight, kettle bells, and med balls), we often end up doing 75-100 burps in a class. They do it all- cardio, strength, conditioning. Pragmatic fitness at its best. I also love anything and everything involving a kettlebell. I am also working on some more strength and skill-based goals these days in addition to the usual aesthetic goals. Now that I’ve pretty much nailed the headtsand, I’m experimenting with mastering the skills mentioned above that require great bodyweight strength.

For fashion, I am almost exclusively in workout clothes all of the time. Lululemon has always been my #1, because their clothes allow me to dress for fitness without looking unkempt. This weekend my mom, little sister and I stopped at the Newbury Street store and I picked up the Train Tough Crop in a kind of camo print (I love the styles that they come out with that have any kind of mesh cutout), and the vent-it-out crop in this amazing red snakeskin print. Super eye-catching, yet flattering, and perfect for teaching!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR  NEW STUDIO? HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH CYCLING?

Ride North End

Ride is my vision of what I always wanted in a cycling/fitness studio. The decor is both mellow and enlivening, with cedarwood walls, high ceilings (the studio itself is a former garage), and invigorating sultry lighting. We offer ride classes as well as iron ride, which is a hybrid cardio and strength training class where we use any modality from bodyweight to kettle bells to med balls. To me, strength and muscle building was always that missing link in most group fitness regimens that held people back form getting the full results they desired. One of the coolest things about ride is that in a few weeks it will be combined with my first baby, e.t.c. juicery. So the studio will be a one stop shop for health enthusiasts, covering your fitness and nutritional (and caffeine) needs.

All of our instructors have different styles, choreography, and musical tastes, but the intention is always the same: to give you the opportunity to destress and get a good hard sweat session. My personal style is an amalgam of everything I’ve observed, liked, loved, despised, and picked up over 14 years of taking hundreds of classes, as well as my knowledge of fitness in general. I like to plan a workout that is not only pragmatic and intense, but that also appeals to the mind/psyche and releases a certain vibe of invigoration and positivity.

 

HOW CAN WE KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOU

Visit our website for our schedule and to sign up for classes at www.ridenorthend.com.  Take advantage of our new client special: 3 classes for $50.

Instagram and Twitter: @ridenorthend @etcjuicery

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ridenorthend www.facebook.com/etcjuice

Spotify: northendride , Melina Olivia DiPaola

personal:

Instagram @melouwho7

Twitter @melinadipaola